St. Patrick’s Day – Part 2

Here is the news article that got me thinking…
https://nyti.ms/A6yjKr

The truth is there is not much more for me to say other than, why?
Why do we continue to be so afraid of those who appear different or those who speak a different language or who come from a different country?  
The same slurs that were used against the Irish immigrants have been used against Italian immigrants and immigrants from Africa and are now being used against Hispanic immigrants.  Somewhere along the way, in the course of my academic studies, I learned that in ancient languages the word for stranger and the word for enemy was often the same word.  Is that still the case that stranger equals enemy? 

I continue to believe that the most important religious question facing us today is not about how we think about or imagine or talk about God.  It is not about homosexuality or marriage or birth control.  Is is about how we answer the question “Who is my neighbor?”  and, for those of us who take our place in religious traditions, how we help the communities in which we live answer that question.

It was a question that was asked of Jesus 2000 years ago.
And, he responded.
Yet, for some reason, we are still trying to figure out the answer.